1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector which has a reduced height above a circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal computers, especially notebook computers, are becoming increasingly compact nowadays, so the entire space within a personal computer enclosure must be efficiently used, which becomes one of the most important design considerations for electrical connectors mounted on a circuit board in the personal computer enclosure.
Miniature DIN (mini DIN) connectors are often provided for connecting mainframes to keyboards or mice of the personal computers. When the mini DIN connectors are adapted to be used for notebook computers, insulative housings and conductive outer shields of the mini DIN connectors are always in cylindrical configurations for compactness considerations. In addition, the cylindrical mini DIN connector is often mounted to a circuit board with a front lower portion thereof located below a bottom face of the circuit board for further reducing the height thereof above a top face of the circuit board.
The cylindrical mini DIN connector is supported by the circuit board on a rear portion thereof and a front portion of the cylindrical mini DIN connector is often at the risk of downwardly moving with respect to the circuit board after long-term insertion or plugging of a complementary electrical connector, since there is no retention between the front portion of the cylindrical mini DIN connector and the circuit board, which puts the electrical connection between electrical terminals of the cylindrical mini DIN connector and the circuit board in the danger of breaking out.
Some methods have already been proposed to improve the retention between the cylindrical mini DIN connector and the circuit board, including enlarging an engaging area of the insulative housing so as to be secured on the circuit board. However, enlarging the engaging area unavoidably enlarges also the volume of the whole cylindrical mini DIN connector and increases the space occupied by the cylindrical mini DIN connector on the circuit board.
Therefore, an improved electrical connector is desired to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages.
A major object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which has a reduced height above a circuit board and which is reliably mounted on the circuit board.
An electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of electrical terminals and a conductive outer shield. The insulative housing is generally cylindrical and comprises a generally circular mating face, a generally circular mounting face opposite to the mating face and a plurality of passageways extending through the mating and the mounting faces. The electrical terminals are received in the passageways. The conductive outer shield encloses the insulative housing and comprises a pair of grounding tabs cooperating with the insulative housing to support the electrical connector on a circuit board while the electrical connector is partly located below the circuit board.